CYCLIC RESPONSE OF THE THYROID GLAND TO EXPERIMENTAL EXCITATION AND DEPRESSION

Abstract

The effect of iodine on the hyperthyroidism of exophthalmic goiter is dramatic not merely because of its striking depressant activity on the clinical manifestations of the disease but also on account of the temporary duration of its beneficial influence. Although the details of this unique behavior of iodine have been studied extensively,¹ little attention has been directed to their specific physiologic significance. It is proposed, therefore, to present the results obtained from published and unpublished experiments on the functional activation and depression of the thyroid gland of the guinea-pig, to correlate these findings with relevant clinical and experimental data from the literature and finally to interpret them in terms of a relatively simple conception. Such a study of the thyroid gland under diverse experimental and clinical conditions has revealed that its behavior is consistently influenced by a factor which limits its ability to respond indefinitely to any stimulus tending